Ecotourism and Residents’ Well-being: A Case Study from Monteverde, Costa Rica, during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract: The global COVID-19 pandemic is having tremendous adverse effects on human well-being and the tourism industry, revealing its high vulnerability, and putting the current system into question. A promising more sustainable tourism concept constitutes ecotourism albeit its impacts on residents’ well-being remain unexplored. Addressing this research gap, a qualitative in-field case study was conducted in Monteverde, Costa Rica, to understand how ecotourism and well-being indeed relate. Using in-depth semi-structured interviews with its residents, this study found that: (1) “Physical and psychological health”, “physical environment” and “social environment” are the most important well-being dimensions for the residents. (2) Although many residents lack a clear understanding of the concept of ecotourism, a nature-basis, environmental conservation, education, and sustainability are crucial elements for them. (3) While ecotourism had a negative influence on the “social environment” and a positive one on “income”, “work”, “education”, and the “physical environment” before 2020, this relationship reversed during the pandemic with the latter two not being affected anymore. (4) Due to the high vulnerability of the economic sector, all interviewed residents wished for less economic dependency on ecotourism. The results imply that Costa Rican and local policy makers should see the pandemic as an opportunity to redefine the type of tourism they want, include the community in the process, and foster local resilience via economic diversification with the long-term goal of well-being maximisation.